Name____________________________
Mr. Carr
CP English 12: Period _________
31 March 2016
1984 Final Project
Your final project for 1984 aims to synthesize much of what we’ve discussed in class
and does so in a format that allows you to be creative. We have discussed 1984 as an
alternate vision of what post WWII Earth could have been like. We have also discussed
Orwellian concepts in our government, other governments, and in our food system.
We have also talked about 1984 as a warning, and how its themes are both applicable
today and potentially applicable in the future. This project allows you to engage all of
these ideas: how 1984 is used or misused to convey a message and how those
messages apply to today’s world and the future. In addition, how our current obesity
epidemic, social media, and big data are all linked to Orwell’s cautionary tale.
**This project will be due Thursday, April 7th, no later than 5:00 pm.
Your project can take on one of two forms:
1. Find:
 An example of art/media/pop-culture which explicitly or implicitly references
1984.
 An Orwellian example in privacy/social media
 An Orwellian example in regards to the obesity epidemic.
Then:



Compose a written analysis of the messages and themes conveyed in your
chosen piece. Your analysis should address the following questions:
How is 1984 referenced? This should include direct quotes from both your
chosen piece, the original text and examples from the documentaries we
watched in class.

What general themes or messages do your pieces convey? This part will vary
greatly based on what form your chosen piece is. A song, for example, might
have a message that you can pinpoint. If you were to choose a piece of
architecture for your piece, the theme of the work would be interpretative in
terms of the mood conveyed by the design and aesthetics of the structure.

Based on your interpretation of 1984, is the reference/allusion that you are
analyzing “correct?” Does the piece oversimplify the ideas that it is
referencing? Perhaps it misinterprets them? Or maybe it is an incredibly
effective use of 1984?

How do the pieces relate to each other? What connections can be made
between 1984, social media/privacy and the obesity epidemic?

How does the specific form of the piece (visual art, music, television, cinema,
etc.) affect the message?
2. Compose an original work of art that utilizes 1984, privacy/social media, and the
obesity epidemic in some way. It could reference them explicitly, or it could
incorporate one of the fundamental ideas from the text and documentaries. If you
choose this option, you still must have a written analysis explaining your intent with
the creation (and your analysis should generally cover the subtopics outlined in option
one). However, the expectations for the written analysis will not be as high as in
option one, as with this route your creation is primary and the analysis is secondary.
Regardless of the option you choose, you must attach a sample of what is being
analyzed. This could be in the form of a photocopy, url, cd, sketch, etc. depending on
your topic.
Please feel free to talk with me if you are unsure about your ideas.
Below is a list of the documentaries we’ve viewed in regards to 1984 and the obesity
epidemic:



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
One Nation Overweight
Generation Like
Frontline: The Secret State of North Korea
Hungry for Change
Terms and Conditions May Apply
That Sugar Film (not available for free)
Rubric
Category
Description
Follows
Prompt
Paper clearly fulfills the purpose of the project in
interesting and informative way; author includes all
three examples, or creates a piece that meets all three
Orwellian ideas
Connections
Clearly and successfully connects examples to 1984
Conventions
MLA Format
Word Count
4
3
2
1
Number of grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors
0-5
6-10
1115
16+
Number of errors in MLA formatting.
0-1
2-3
3-4
5+
700+
699600
599500
4990